Career Move - ITIL

I have about 10 years experience in Helpdesk and Project Coordinator (collectively). I moved to Australia around two and a half years back and could not get a break in my profile of Project Coordination, reason given was lack of local experience in given profile.

Had to take up a job in Call Center and is still stuck on to that.

Please do advise what all skills should I acquire to get a break through in Project Coordination.Getting into Helpdesk Coordinator looks difficult as here they expect you to provide 1 and 2 level support where as back in India, it was more of coordination and no technical expertise was required.

I really need to get back to my IT field (though not technical). I do not mind spending some time on acquiring skills but the aim is get back.

Any guidance and pathway suggested will be highly appreciated?

Am very keen on getting ITIL certification. Can I just give an exam online without getting into those expensive trainings after self study? Will that help?

Thanks in advance.

Sainath's Advice on Thursday, June 24, 2010 :

It is very much possible to clear the ITIL foundation without going through any expensive training - the only challenge you will face is in collating the study material. But the OGC website has got a wealth of free pdfs shared which should help you in this regard.Please check the below link:

The job demands / job description outside India are usually quite different. People do not mind continuing to work as programmers even in their 40s but in India the non-technical "manager" designation is desired a lot. Which is why I have always maintained that while you may end up becoming a manager handling a huge list of responsibilities, you cannot afford to lose your technical edge simply because the quality of your managerial decisions will also depend upon your technical expertise and not on updates provided by subordinates.For getting an initial break in Australia, I suggest you take a step back and commence from scratch. List down what the JD requires you to do, identify what skills need to be developed and make a plan (series of steps) to complete it in not more than 6 months - max. 1 year. And try once again.The logic is simple - a new environment will always require you to adapt, and dropping old thinking patterns and opting for change is the fastest way to bounce back. One last thing - treat the pain associated with any change as a friend,it is the best measure to do check if you are putting in enough effort or not. The higher the pain,the faster you are changing for the better.

Disclaimer: Reply given to your question by our expert
panels are based on their personal experience who have been successful in their
career or are well acquainted in the role they are/were playing. This may or may
not be suitable in a specific circumstances, please consider this as an advice that
may help you carve your career. DotNetFunda.Com or its expert panel members will
not be responsible for loss of any kind because of any decision you take based on these advices.